


simple twist of fate

by vtforpedro



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Broke College Student Credence Barebone, Fluff and Humor, Fluffy Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Original Percival Graves is a Softie, POV Credence Barebone, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:20:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26654326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vtforpedro/pseuds/vtforpedro
Summary: In which Credence Barebone is a broke university student in need of a Netflix account and makes a desperate plea on his university’s online community board.
Relationships: Credence Barebone/Original Percival Graves
Comments: 20
Kudos: 92





	simple twist of fate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Angelsallfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelsallfire/gifts).



Credence has known tough times in his life.   
  
Living under Ma’s rule until he was thirteen and called CPS himself one night, taken away and thrust into the foster care system without knowing what that really meant for him.   
  
Two failed foster families and no adoptions. Turning eighteen and not having anything to his name, no money, no places to go, while the state helped very little in getting him a job and a place to live.   
  
They were all miserable years. He was terrified when he lived with his mother and he was terrified when he lived without her, never knowing if the next trauma was right around the corner. Feeling like a failure, not worth anything, stressed every night he went to bed, stressed every morning he woke up.   
  
A few years and a few jobs went by like this.  _ Tough times, _ he’d tell some people who bothered to ask, because he didn’t know how to explain the truth of it all.   
  
When Credence had been making enough money delivering pizzas in Manhattan, cash tips to squirrel away, he’d been able to get an apartment with three strangers, students, and rent was low, utilities even lower, and Credence had decided that he was going to do something for himself. He was going to try, even with the prospect of failure, because he was tired of living paycheck to paycheck, knowing if he lost his job, he’d lose a place to live.   
  
There were no friends or family members to fall back on. But Credence was tired of living his life this way, of tough times, and wanted to make something of himself.   
  
Credence had always wanted to help people. It came from not being able to help himself for so much of his life, he knew, but he didn’t think he’d ever really get the chance. Not in any meaningful way, at least.   
  
But he’d taken a leap of faith and applied to the nursing program at NYU. He was already twenty-four, so many years spent working and not daring to do anything but that, just in case it all went up in flames. He was terrified it still might but he applied anyway and to his surprise, he was accepted.   
  
He’s managed to get through two of his four years so far, in the same apartment with the same roommates who are also attending NYU. He’s in his second semester of his third year when one of his roommates decides he wants to move in with his girlfriend.   
  
Credence works at Starbucks these days, the early morning shift so he has time for classes, and though he doesn’t get paid tips, he gets paid enough to make rent, to pay for some of the utilities, internet and his own phone bill, with the occasional bit left over for pizza or Chinese food or a new pair of jeans.   
  
But when his roommate decides to leave and his other two roommates say they don’t plan on finding someone else, Credence knows his rent is going to increase, as well as the utilities, and suddenly money is very, very tight again. He has little savings from his student loans, which he never used much for living expenses because he doesn’t want to drown in doubt for thirty years.   
  
With his roommate gone, it means the Netflix account they shared, that Credence paid half for monthly, is gone, and his other two roommates, a couple, don’t have Netflix.   
  
Credence thinks it’ll be alright and that he can get an account on his own, but he waits to see how the first of the month goes, along with the bills he always has due in the first week of a new month.   
  
It doesn’t go well.   
  
Money dwindles down to nothing, barely enough for food until the next paycheck comes in, and he begs his roommates to find someone else. They refuse and he doesn’t particularly blame them considering it’s a two bedroom apartment and their other roommate had made the living room his bedroom. It wasn’t ideal and downright awkward and strange sometimes, but it meant Credence could buy Chinese food for four people just for himself and not feel guilty about it.   
  
He can’t work anymore hours, not with his class schedule, not with the staggering amount of homework he has to do every night. He has less than two years to go but he’s nearly as stressed as he was at the beginning of it all over again. It’s miserable and he can’t even watch Netflix at night to help him fall asleep anymore.   
  
Credence has a hard time sleeping at all, he always has, and without something to watch his mind races. He thinks about work and school and his future and gets so worked up that by the time he falls asleep at one in the morning, he’s woken by nightmares before four and has to be at work by five.   
  
He thinks he may just crack if he doesn’t figure out a way to get to sleep earlier, preferably as early as possible, so he might try to catch up on years and years worth of sleep by the time he’s forty.   
  
His roommates are nice enough but he’s too nervous to ask them to get a Netflix account so they can all use it because he knows they don’t care for it and they already let him pay less rent than they have to.   
  
One Tuesday evening, after Credence has had a few too many rum and cokes, from the handle of rum he’d bought a year ago, before his troubles, he has an idea. Probably not the best idea in the world and he’ll no doubt feel like an idiot for it later, but he’s teary and in the middle of browsing NYU’s community board in their app, reading various postings when he gets the idea, and he thinks if he writes it just right, he might garner some sympathy.   
  
So Credence makes a new post and pours his heart out in three long paragraphs. He rereads and edits it about eight times, until it’s down to one and a half paragraphs, with just enough groveling and calling himself a mooch once or twice, and asks for someone to share their Netflix password with him. He asks for someone to direct message him if they will and he’s aware he’ll probably get nasty messages, but that’s alright if that one person takes pity on him.   
  
He does get about a dozen messages telling him to use a friend’s or family member’s account and only replies once that he has neither of those things. Others tell him to get a job, which his original post said he has one, along with a full time nursing program and homework, and doesn’t respond to those.   
  
A few direct messages are downright creepy but he giggles anyway as he blocks them.   
  
There’s one though, from user pg4784, that catches his eye, not only because of what the message says, but because when he checks the profile, there’s no student information. There’s a way to hide your full name and email so people have to message you to be given them, but there’s no information available at all. Credence has never seen that before and frowns a little as he goes back to the message.   
  
_ What Netflix show is worth this kind of humiliation? _   
  
Credence huffs a little and debates pouring another rum and coke, but he’s already had two with two and a half shots each, and his eyelids are heavy and he doesn’t think he can make it out to the kitchen again. He types a message back instead.

_ Like I said, my roommate moved out and I wasn’t even done with season two. Stranger Things. _   
  
It’s a blatant falsehood. Credence finished  _ Stranger Things _ the same days the seasons were dropped. He’s only a couple seasons into  _ Once Upon a Time _ and while it’s not the best television, the fairy tale aspects are a nice escape from life, are comforting to fall asleep to, and the idea that he will have to try and find something else to do that makes him teary again.   
  
_ I saw you mentioned you don’t have any friends or family members. Not a single one? _   
  
_ Not a single one. Pathetic, I know, that’s why I’m here. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Give me your number and ask me over the phone and I might give you my password. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Are you a human lie detector? _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Just about. _   
  
Credence squints for a while. He doesn’t know if this is a ploy by some very lonely or very disturbed individual to try and pick him up or something else equally annoying, but the idea that he might get some decent sleep tonight makes him not care so much.   
  
The rum helps.   
  
He gives his number and not six minutes later his phone begins to buzz with a phone call from  _ Unknown. _   
  
Credence’s stomach is filled with nerves but liquid courage is in his veins and he lays back, answering the call.   
  
“Hello?”   
  
“I genuinely can’t tell if you’re being serious or fucking around to rile everyone up.”   
  
Credence doesn’t know why, but he’s immensely glad to hear a man’s voice. A man’s voice that is attractive, a little older, and somewhere between dry and good humor is another thing altogether though.   
  
“I am being completely serious,” Credence says. “I didn’t ask for my roommate to leave. I have to stretch twenty-three dollars for the next week and a half.”   
  
“Where do you work?” the man asks skeptically.   
  
“A coffee shop. I start at five in the morning and am in class from ten until six almost every day, except for an hour break for lunch. I work on homework from seven to nine and watch Netflix for a while after because I can’t fall asleep without it,” Credence says. “So I can’t get more hours or find another job that works with my class schedule. Am I lying?”   
  
The man chuckles. “Doesn’t sound like it,” he says. “Sounds like you don’t have much room to breathe. Student loans?”   
  
“I took out enough to pay for everything related to my academics and to pay off my credit cards. I was making okay enough money to pay rent and bills but my roommates refuse to find another roommate.”   
  
“How many damn roommates do you have?”   
  
Credence huffs a laugh. “Two now. Two bedroom apartment, the one that moved out lived in the living room. You don’t sound young enough to be a student, you know.”   
  
“That sounds like ageism to me.”   
  
_ “And  _ you don’t have any student information on your profile.”   
  
“That’s because I’m not a student,” the man says, a smirk in his voice. “I’m in administration.”   
  
“Oh,” Credence says and wrinkles his nose. He’s aware staff and administration have profiles as well but he’s never seen them interacting with people like this before. “Hopefully not about to kick me out.”   
  
“Not over a desperate plea for a Netflix password,” the man says. “What’s your name?”   
  
Credence hesitates, biting his lip. “Credence,” he says. “What’s yours?”   
  
“Percy,” the man says. “Tell you what, Credence. I rarely use my Netflix account and you gave me a laugh tonight when I needed one, so I’ll give you my password.”   
  
Credence pumps his fist. “Really?” he asks and sighs in relief. “Oh, thank you. You’re a lifesaver, Percy. Once I graduate and get a job, I’ll pay for yours.”   
  
Percy laughs. “That probably won’t be necessary,” he says. “You’re a nursing student, aren’t you?”   
  
“Yeah,” Credence says with a grin. “About a year and a half left.”   
  
“When do clinicals start?”   
  
“All next year,” Credence says. “And I’m sure it’ll be a long year with long days, but I still can’t wind down at the end of my days without Netflix. Helps me sleep the night through.”   
  
“It’s whiskey that does it for me,” Percy says with good humor. “Write this down and don’t lose it.”   
  
Credence grabs his sketch pad off his nightstand with his pen and hums. Percy gives him the password and Credence has a feeling he changed it for this precise reason and it was probably more personal before, because he can’t make sense of what it means now.   
  
Percy tells Credence to make sure it works while he’s still on the phone and he’s glad for it. Once he’s got his laptop, he logs into Percy’s account and smiles to see Netflix’s home screen. To know he can watch his shows, unless this is an elaborate prank but he doesn't think so, and to know he’ll be getting good sleep again.   
  
“Works,” Credence sighs with relief. “Thank you. I’m sorry I can’t buy you dinner.”   
  
“Wouldn’t want you to live on pennies,” Percy says. “Watch  _ Stranger Things  _ and get some sleep. Keep up the good work.”   
  
“How do you know my work has been good?”   
  
“You’re still a student at NYU. We only accept and keep the best, you know.”   
  
Credence smiles and doesn’t know why his cheeks feel hot, but they do. “I don’t know about the best, but I am trying,” he says. “Thanks again. I’ll let you know when I don’t need it anymore.”   
  
“You’re welcome,” Percy says with a chuckle that’s warm. “Good night, Credence.”   
  
“Night, Percy,” Credence says a little breathlessly and hangs up. He stares down at his phone and can’t quite believe that it actually worked. That a man  _ called _ him, even, a man that works at NYU and probably pitied him more than enjoyed a laugh, but still.   
  
It worked and now he has Netflix.   
  
Credence doesn’t expect to be kicked off of it and thinks Percy was a genuine man, but he’s still fairly tipsy and thinks he might feel differently in the morning. He finds  _ Once Upon a Time _ and gets back to the episode he left off on, turning it on and smiling.   
  
If he’s teary once more, well, it’s definitely the rum.   
  
As he watches Rumplestiltskin and the Queen, Credence wonders what Percy does in administration. His voice sounded so pleasant and he has a strange feeling that he’s probably stupidly handsome. He wasn’t old, just not early twenties-something, but Credence supposes he’ll probably only ever talk to him a couple more times, if that.   
  
If he keeps letting Credence use his Netflix account, even though it definitely makes him a mooch.   
  
Credence gets distracted by the show then and by ten-thirty, he’s out like a light, and won’t wake up until his alarm goes off.   
  
——   
  
Three nights later Credence still blessedly has access to Percy’s Netflix account. He’s fallen asleep every night to it and is finally getting decent sleep, enough so to not make him feel like he’s constantly on the verge of a breakdown in the middle of lectures.   
  
Money is abysmally tight and he misses pizza after weeks without it, but Credence knows how to grocery shop with little money and get nutritious foods meant to last. He never wanted to have to do this again but the broke college grad student isn’t a stereotype for nothing.   
  
Credence does have a couple of friends, but not friends that he sees outside of class. They don’t hang out because Credence always turns down invitations to, too nervous he’ll fuck it all up, that no one will like him, and he’ll lose the friendly faces he sits next to in class.   
  
It means he definitely couldn’t ask them for their Netflix passwords.   
  
On the fourth night, after Credence has finished homework and is finishing an ice cream cone, his laptop on his lap and  _ Once Upon a Time  _ halfway through an episode, he gets a text from an unfamiliar number.   
  
_ You said Stranger Things. _   
  
Credence freezes as he looks at it. Percy said he rarely used his account and the idea that he’s gone in to check on what Credence is watching is probably one he should have thought of. He doesn’t blame Percy for being curious, of course, but he did lie to him.   
  
_ Percy? I decided Once Upon a Time was probably friendlier right now. _   
  
_ Yes, I called you on the office phone the other night. You’re halfway through season 2. _   
  
Credence grimaces.   
  
_ I started it a while back. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Do you even watch Stranger Things? _ _  
_ _  
_ _ I do! I love it. I might have fibbed because everyone loves Stranger Things and not everyone loves Once Upon a Time. I was pretty sure it would ruin my chances altogether of getting a password. I’m sorry. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ You don’t have to be sorry about that. Gave me another laugh. What’s this show about? _ _  
_ _  
_ _ A girl that put her son up for adoption gets reunited with him and moves to a small town. He reads fairy tales and is convinced she’s the daughter of Snow White who got sent away by the Evil Queen. Turns out it’s true and everyone she knows in town is a fairy tale character. Like Rumplestiltskin and Robin Hood and Snow White. You get to see the fairy tale world too. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ That is a hell of a premise for a show. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ It’s a little silly and dramatic sometimes but I like fairy tales. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Who doesn’t? _ _  
_ _  
_ Credence smiles and looks at his laptop screen for a while. He glances down at his phone and he doesn’t think it’s a good idea but he sends Percy another text.   
  
_ What were you doing in the office so late the other night? _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Meetings ran late and I had a lot of paperwork to review. I’m not usually at the office so late but the beginning and end of semesters can be a headache. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ What sort of administrative work do you do? _ _  
_ _  
_ _ I work on school policy mostly, an ever changing sort of thing. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Do you like it? _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Love it. _   
  
Credence looks at his laptop for a while and wonders what Percy looks like. He shouldn’t, it’s none of his business to intrude on his life any further, but Percy texted him, didn’t he?   
  
To call Credence out on his bullshit, maybe, but he could have just laughed and moved on.   
  
He wants to send Percy another text, wants to know more about him, but he suspects that’s his loneliness talking and decides it’s not a good idea.   
  
_ That’s good. :) I look forward to finally loving what I do too. Good night. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Good night. _   
  
Credence watches Netflix for a little while more, until his eyes are too heavy to keep open, and he closes his laptop and goes to sleep. If he smiles, well, no one is ever around to see it.   
  
——   
  
Credence sits in the library a week later, on a late Friday afternoon, his one day of classes that ends early. He’d like to go home and crawl into bed but he has homework and sometimes if he gets enough done on Friday afternoons, it leaves his evening free.   
  
Saturdays are his only days off during the week and he mostly spends them recovering but it does mean he can stay up late one night of the week and try to relax.   
  
He still has to work Sunday mornings but those are slow and easy, for the most part, which is all well and good until he inevitably remembers five in the morning at Starbucks on a Monday is not something anyone likes. Employees and customers alike.   
  
Credence feels his phone buzz in his pocket as he’s reading through his textbook and pulls it out, expecting one of his classmates, but he sees Percy’s name. He fumbles with his phone, nearly dropping it, but manages to catch it and quickly opens the message.   
  
_ I don’t like this Rumplestiltskin character. He’s shady. _   
  
Credence raises his eyebrows and puts his hand over his mouth for a while. He grins and then laughs, unable to help it, ducking his head when a girl at the table in front of him glances at him.   
  
_ He is pretty shady, isn’t he? What made you decide to watch it? _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Everyone likes fairy tales. I don’t like the queen either. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ She’s known as the Evil Queen for a reason. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Still. She’s cutthroat in the real world, reminds me too much of people I’ve worked with in the past. Hope Snow White kills her. _   
  
Credence laughs again and covers his mouth because it was louder than he intended and he winces when the girl across from him narrows her eyes in warning.   
  
They’re all a little frayed at the edges, the way it always is at the beginning of the semester, so he doesn’t blame her.   
  
_ You’re making me laugh in the library and a Freshman is giving me the evil eye for it. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Glad I’m giving you a laugh too. Maybe you should use your inside voice. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ It’s really quiet in here, you know. You don’t work today? _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Four day week for me. Are you in class after the library? _ _  
_ _  
_ _ No, classes finish early on Fridays. Getting some homework done. _   
  
Credence looks at his textbook when he doesn’t get a reply right away. He taps his pencil against it and looks at the essay he’s writing. He’s forgotten what thought he was in the middle of and it’s all Percy’s fault, of course, but he finds his stomach churning with nerves that aren’t unfamiliar.   
  
He’s used to his stomach giving him all sorts of trouble in his life, but this feels like a mix between butterflies and the nervousness of talking to someone you like. And he’s barely talked to Percy so he doesn’t know why he likes him to begin with.   
  
Probably because he’s unfortunately heard his voice and it really was such a nice voice.   
  
_ I understand if coffee is the last thing you want to get, but maybe you’d like to get dinner tonight? My treat. _   
  
Credence stares down at his phone, his heart thumping wildly, and his hands breaking out in a cold sweat. He swallows and blinks a few times and is sure getting dinner with Percy is a terrible idea. Maybe Percy means it as friends but he could also mean it as something more and that’s… well, Credence simply doesn’t have the time for that.   
  
Or the guts.   
  
Dating is not an unknown to him but he is still woefully behind in it compared to his peers and it scares him.   
  
This is assuming that’s what Percy has in mind and he truly doesn’t know.   
  
_ What place were you thinking of? _   
  
Credence thinks that’s a safe thing to ask. If Percy says something ritzy Credence thinks he will have an answer and if he says Taco Bell, well, Credence isn’t entirely sure what that would mean.   
  
_ Ever been to San Marzano? _   
  
After Credence has quickly looked that up and sees that it’s neither expensive or ritzy, but filled with good reviews about affordable, homemade Italian food, he feels some relief. Some, because he thinks that Percy still means this to be a date and they don’t even know what the other looks like.   
  
_ I haven’t. Looks like a good place and it’s less than half a mile from the library. What time? _ _  
_ _  
_ _ If I wouldn’t be taking you away from studying, in an hour. Before it gets too busy. _   
  
Credence’s stomach loops and he looks around the library for a while. Meeting a complete stranger for a date over Italian food and no one around to tell him if it’s a good or bad idea. What if Percy hates Credence? What if Credence hates Percy?   
  
He thinks he already knows he won’t and he’s only trying to sabotage what might potentially be a good time, the way he tends to.   
  
_ Sure, that sounds good. I’ll see you in an hour. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Ask for my table. See you then. _   
  
Credence stuffs his phone in his pocket and covers his mouth for an entirely different reason. He doesn’t think he’s going to get anymore studying done now and that’s alright with him, but he can’t sit in the quiet library, where his thoughts will run wild.   
  
He puts his things away in his backpack and leaves the library. It’s only just February, so it’s still cold out, but Credence takes a walk around the different buildings that make up NYU and stops in a courtyard. It’s pretty all year long but it looks especially good in the winter and Credence walks slowly around it and tries not to send himself into a panic.   
  
Percy is in his thirties, he thinks, and that’s not so bad. And he’s confident where Credence is not, so that can only be a good thing. He hopes so anyway.   
  
Credence groans and sits on an icy stone bench, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his coat and praying to whoever may be listening that, if anything, he enjoys himself.   
  
At least Percy isn’t expecting him to go halfsies.   
  
He debates texting one of his classmates, a girl that’s always been sweet to him and who asks him to hang out with her and her friends, just so he has someone to tell, but he decides not to, in the end.   
  
Friends would be nice to have. He’s had them, of course, in foster care and at the old pizza joint he’d worked, but he hasn’t found his circle yet. That’s what his student counselor called a group of good friends and Credence likes the word, but he doesn’t know who those people are for him.   
  
He’ll never find them if he doesn’t try though. It seems like friends would be easier to make than the choice to apply for NYU had been but he doesn’t find that to be true.   
  
When Credence has about twenty minutes to go, he gets up and walks out of the courtyard. It’s nice to walk in the cold, letting it chase away his thoughts and wake him up a little, even if the butterflies in his stomach only get worse the closer to the restaurant he gets.   
  
He gets there a couple minutes before five and sees a little patio out front, large heaters placed around it, but only a few people are outside and only have coffee. It’s got one of those little chalkboards that says  _ San Marzano _ and what the special is today and Credence pushes the door open and sees that it’s as charming and warm inside as it is outside.   
  
Dark floors and tables, nothing fancy but homey, and the smell of good Italian food only makes it better. He didn’t even know this place was here, for as long as he’s lived in this area and been going to NYU, but he’s sure there are a lot of places like it. Even if it’s inexpensive food, he tries to avoid eating out altogether.   
  
A woman greets him and asks how many today.   
  
“Umm,” Credence says. “I’m looking for Percy’s table.”   
  
“Percy,” she says and glances down at the podium she stands behind. She smiles brightly when she looks at him. “This way.”   
  
Credence follows her, holding tightly onto his backpack strap and looks furtively around, but most people aren’t alone. She leads him to a table near the back in front of a bright window and he sees a man sitting alone, looking down at a menu. Credence’s heart seizes when the man looks up and at them approaching and he smiles.   
  
_ Oh no, _ is all Credence can think.   
  
Percy  _ is _ stupidly handsome and Credence is filled with a sudden dread that he is absolutely going to fuck this up and once he’s done doing that, he’ll be without a Netflix account again.   
  
His hair is dark and his eyes are brown and he’s dressed well, fashionably so without it being too much for this restaurant, and that smile. That smile is going to do Credence in.   
  
Percy looks like a man that’s confident, that’s doing well in life, and he’s funny, Credence knows that, and he’s polite and seemingly kind. Everything he could ask for and he’s getting Credence in return.   
  
“Hello, Credence,” Percy says with some amusement once the waitress has set his menu down and walked off. He holds his hand out across the table when Credence sits down. “It’s nice to officially meet you. Percy Graves.”   
  
“Credence Barebone,” Credence says and shakes Percy’s hand firmly but with a grin he can’t quite help. “Nice to meet you too. This is a really nice place.”   
  
“It is, isn’t it?” Percy says as he glances around. “My colleagues and I come here occasionally for lunch or get it delivered. I do love Italian food.”   
  
Credence smiles. “I don’t think I’d trust anyone who didn’t. Are you Italian?”   
  
“Incredibly Irish,” Percy says and smiles. “But Irish food just doesn’t hit the same.”   
  
“I don’t know,” Credence laughs, “good corned beef and cabbage can be as comforting as spaghetti and meatballs.  _ Finnegan’s _ a few blocks away has the best corned beef sliders I’ve ever had.”   
  
“I have not had corned beef in almost twenty years,” Percy says with a smile. “But that’s because my mother destroyed it every time she made it. Maybe I should give it another chance.”   
  
Credence smiles and shrugs. “Maybe you’ll love it. Or it’ll make you sick,” he says. “But I don’t blame you for this place, it says they make their pasta in house.”   
  
Percy nods as he looks down at his menu. “They do. Their manicotti is particularly good,” he says. “With sausage, not mushrooms.”   
  
“Never mushrooms,” Credence agrees and looks down at his own menu, simply so he doesn’t stare.   
  
He doesn’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that he’s dressed as casually as he is, that his hair is a mess, that he showered last night before bed. That he didn’t have time to go home and agonize about everything, so Percy is getting him as is.   
  
Once they’ve ordered drinks, iced tea for both, Credence looks at Percy and Percy looks at him and he really doesn’t think he has anything to worry about when it comes to that.   
  
This was the last thing in the world Credence would have expected to come out of a desperate message in the NYU app, but he’s steadily relaxing and thinks that more than the ability to watch his current favorite show is going to come out of this.   
  
“So how much of  _ Once Upon a Time _ did you watch?”   
  
“I’m almost done with season one,” Percy says and laughs when Credence gapes at him. “Hey, I have a three day weekend and it’s been nice to wind down. I normally read in my spare time and forget Netflix exists but it’s been a good change. Still don’t trust this Rumplestiltskin character.”   
  
Credence laughs and shakes his head. “He is a trickster, you know,” he says. “Don’t worry, you only have six seasons to go.”   
  
“Should only take me a year to get through,” Percy says dryly. “Have you ever read the old fairy tales?”   
  
“Some of them,” Credence says. “They’re pretty terrifying, but I read them when I was twelve. Probably why I like this more. I used to read too but it stopped helping me get to sleep.”   
  
“You have a lot going on all at once. I know what it’s like to struggle with turning the day off,” Percy says with a smile as he gazes at Credence. “What made you pursue a nursing degree?”   
  
Credence shrugs and smiles at their waitress when she delivers their iced teas. “I spent a couple weeks in the hospital when I was a kid,” he says. “Nothing too serious. But I liked the nurses, they helped me at a weird time in my life. I didn’t go straight in after high school because I didn’t think I was smart enough or skilled enough to do the work. I got tired of delivering pizzas and took the dive one day.”   
  
Percy smiles and there’s something soft about him, something that makes Credence’s heart ache. “And here you are halfway done with your third year,” he says. “It’s pretty incredible what we can accomplish once we walk alongside our fears rather than let them lead us.”   
  
Credence bites his lip and nods. “What about you? What was your accomplishment when you did that?”   
  
“I’ve always been career-focused and ambitious. It was my personal life I was afraid of. Took me years to find more than one friend and to trust someone enough to open up with them in a more meaningful way.”   
  
“I think I can relate to that,” Credence says with a self-deprecating smile. “You’ve got good friends now?”   
  
“I do,” Percy says. “A good friend of mine is a colleague but a few others aren’t. You haven’t found any classmates to spend time with?”   
  
Credence huffs a laugh. “Still letting fear guide me on that one,” he says and shrugs. “A girl in my class wants me to hang out with her and her friends but if things go badly, I won’t have anyone in class to talk to anymore. I think they like to party more than I do though. Which… I don’t at all, really.”   
  
Percy chuckles. “I think it’d go better than you’re thinking. Unless all they do is party,” he says. “I know a couple people you’d probably get along with.”   
  
“Oh?” Credence asks with a grin. “Going to send me on a blind friendship date?”   
  
“I could,” Percy says. “Or maybe one day we can all go out together.”   
  
Credence blushes. “Think you’ll want to go out with me again?”   
  
“I would definitely like to enjoy today with you,” Percy says and smiles. “But if that’s something you’ll want, yes.”   
  
“Let’s see how this meal goes,” Credence says. “You might be the type to chew with his mouth open for all I know.”   
  
Percy grimaces. “Shoot me if I ever do,” he says. “I have impeccable table manners.”   
  
Credence grins. “I doubt I have much to worry about then,” he says. “Not as far as that goes anyway.”   
  
They order their food and it comes out surprisingly quickly, but it’s all homemade and smells divine. Percy has gotten his sausage and ricotta stuffed manicotti, covered in marinara sauce and baked so the mozzarella on top is browned and bubbling.   
  
He’s gotten parmesan chicken over marinara and linguine for himself and it’s a massive serving, which Credence is glad for. Leftovers are a luxury right now and he feels badly about being so broke that he probably can’t treat Percy to anything anytime soon.   
  
It makes him think that he probably shouldn’t go out with him. Or maybe not that often anyway, because he really does want to see Percy again after this. But it feels like taking advantage of him and he’s already lucky enough to get to use his Netflix account.   
  
But it’s a good time and hard to think that way as they talk. Percy makes him laugh, often, and Credence doesn’t think he’s particularly funny, is usually too nervous to be, but he makes Percy laugh too and that’s got to mean something.   
  
They talk about a lot of things, mostly light-hearted and fun things for now. They share a lot in common while having their own interests too, but Percy doesn’t like to party - never really has, he says wryly - and he doesn’t like being in places with too many people, like sport stadiums and malls.   
  
Neither does Credence.   
  
Percy is nine years older than Credence and while he’s never dated anyone who was, he thinks he might get along better with Percy because of it. Too many people he goes to school with are worried about partying or getting married young or shallow things that bore him to tears.   
  
Even if Percy was Credence’s age, he thinks they’d still be exactly the same.   
  
He likes Percy. He likes everything about him so far. From his smile to his taste in food to the way he grimaces about the holidays, not a fan of them like Credence isn’t.   
  
That’s probably not so normal but it’s nice to find someone who thinks the holidays are just as tiring as Credence does.   
  
From a brief mention of Percy’s adolescence, he thinks he can understand why, and that’s another thing they have in common. Bad parents, though Credence doesn’t know the extent to which Percy’s were. Maybe someday he’ll tell Percy about the way his life has gone, but certainly not today.   
  
When the restaurant gets loud and they’ve long finished their dinners, wrapped up in to-go containers, they leave. Percy asks if Credence would like company back to his apartment, since he lives in one of the apartments near campus, and he accepts.   
  
“Took a taxi here,” Percy says when they walk outside into the cold. “I’ll find another one back.”   
  
“Where do you live?” Credence asks as they walk down the sidewalk to the light so they can cross.   
  
“Uptown, on the Hudson, about twenty minutes away.”   
  
Credence raises his eyebrows. That’s a good area, expensive, where studio apartments run in the three thousands and two bedrooms tend to go upwards of six thousand, but he doesn’t make a comment on that.   
  
He doesn’t think an administration employee makes that kind of money but he could be wrong. Percy could have money from something else even and it’s not his business.   
  
“Do you have a view of the water?” he asks instead, smiling.   
  
“I do, actually. Pretty in the mornings, if I’m there long enough to see the sun rise,” Percy chuckles. “My living room is mostly windows, which is my favorite thing about it. They aren’t lying on HGTV when they talk about all that natural light.”   
  
Credence laughs. “I don’t have any of that in my room,” he says. “Natural lighting would be good for when I’m sketching or drawing.” He sighs. “Not that I have much time for that these days either. Just Saturdays and most Saturdays I want to sit and do nothing at all.”   
  
“I don’t blame you after the weeks you go through,” Percy says and he touches Credence’s back when they cross the street.   
  
Credence doesn’t know why but it sends a thrill through him. “Maybe we can get breakfast one Saturday morning. That’d be a good way to start my day of nothing at all after. If you want to.”   
  
“I do want to,” Percy says. “I’d love to. Next Saturday?”   
  
“Yeah,” Credence says and smiles when he glances at Percy. “I’m sorry I can’t—”   
  
“I promise you that your company is all I care about, Credence,” Percy says. “Don’t worry about anything else. I want you to have a good time when you’re with me.”   
  
Credence thinks he’ll still probably worry but it’s good to hear, he supposes. He can only hope Percy will continue feeling that way.   
  
“Alright,” he sighs and smiles. “Thank you, Percy.”   
  
Percy winks and that’s far too attractive, but thankfully they move on from how poor Credence is, and Credence tells Percy a little about how his time has gone at NYU. He’s obviously familiar with the school, more than Credence will ever be, but maybe he doesn’t interact with students much himself because he seems to enjoy hearing about it.   
  
He asks about Credence’s professors and they share a laugh about a few of them.   
  
“I think her traveling mug in the morning might be more whiskey or rum or vodka than coffee.”   
  
“Fuck, don’t tell me that,” Percy says. “I’d be obligated to open an internal investigation if you ever smelled alcohol on her.”   
  
Credence laughs. “I don’t!” he says. “It’s just that she always looks like she needs a stiff drink and gets better whenever she drinks her coffee.”   
  
“Are you sure that isn’t the coffee?”   
  
“It might be. It tends to put me asleep, so I’ve never really understood the caffeine high. Could be reading her all wrong.”   
  
Percy chuckles. “Get a couple shots of espresso in me and I don’t slow down until three in the afternoon,” he says with a smirk.   
  
“God, are you one of those _ let’s go get ‘em team! _ kind of employees?”   
  
“Fuck no. That energy is for me and me alone,” Percy says. “Let’s just say only one of my colleagues dares to step into my office to bullshit with me. I am far too busy otherwise with paperwork and leading hours long meetings.”   
  
“So you’re the boss of school policy,” Credence says with a laugh.   
  
“Not necessarily the boss. We all work on equal ground but when I first got here it was a lot of talking in circles wasting time until I put a stop to it and it’s been that way since.”   
  
“I’m not sure if I’d hate to work with you or love it.”   
  
“They love me,” Percy says with a smirk. “Easier to work with direction than without it. I also buy lunch a couple times a week and have a bakery nearby deliver something sweet every Friday. Amazing what people can get done when morale is up.”   
  
Credence laughs. “Can you send me a cupcake every Friday too? Maybe that’d keep my morale up,” he says. “I can see why they like you. What’d you do before NYU?”   
  
“Ran my father’s company,” Percy says. “So I’m used to these things.”   
  
“Did you sell it?”   
  
“No, I didn’t. Someone else runs it for me and I collect a paycheck,” Percy says. “I didn’t have room to breathe when I was there, much like you. This job is less stressful and I only have to go to meetings once or twice a month for the other business.”   
  
“What kind of business is it?”   
  
“Research and development for industrial purposes. Nothing too exciting,” Percy says. “A headache, mostly, that I spent ten years organizing from the mess my father left it in. Figured I deserved baked goods every Friday once I was done with it.”   
  
Credence smiles. “Sounds like you do,” he says. “You’ve accomplished a lot for being thirty-five, you know.”   
  
Percy laughs. “I didn’t have a choice when the old man died,” he says. “I might retire in ten years though. Maybe move to Spain and live off the beach and never stress about anything again.”   
  
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” Credence sighs. “That’s only a couple hour flight from freshly made pasta in Rome, you know.”   
  
“I do know,” Percy says. “Might make it my ten year goal.”   
  
“You should go to Spain a few times first,” Credence says. “And make sure you actually like it first.”   
  
“That’s a fantastic idea,” Percy says and smiles when Credence laughs. “I try to get out of here when the humidity is bad. Maybe I’ll go to Spain.”   
  
“Send me a postcard,” Credence says and stops in front of his building. He looks at Percy with a smile. “Don’t bring home any beach sand.”   
  
Percy chuckles. “I’d hate to be locked in a Spanish prison for a year over sand theft,” he says. “Thank you for meeting me, Credence.”   
  
Credence smiles and looks down at the ground. “Thank you for asking,” he says. “I had a really good time. Next Saturday?”   
  
“Absolutely,” Percy says. “I’ll text you before then. Enjoy your evening.”   
  
“You too. Enjoy the show if you watch more of it,” Credence says with a smile as he looks at Percy. “Good night, Percy.”   
  
“Good night, Credence,” Percy says and touches Credence’s elbow before he’s off down the sidewalk, back toward the busier street to hail a cab.   
  
Credence watches him go and bites his lip and thinks that went well. Really well. It’s best to take things slow, he knows, but he wouldn’t have minded if Percy had kissed him. But maybe Percy likes to take things slow and fears ruining it as much as Credence does.   
  
Well, he doubts that, but Percy said it took him a long time to open up to someone in a more meaningful way. He’s probably always careful and Credence likely needs someone like that, because he’s dated a few times, but never more than for a few months at a time.   
  
If they wander toward something serious, Credence will need help, he thinks. From Percy and those friends he really needs to make.   
  
Credence walks into his apartment to get his leftovers in the refrigerator and says hi to his roommates before he goes into his bedroom. He tosses his backpack aside and lies down in bed, looking up at the ceiling and smiling.   
  
He might be a bit of a poor mess but Percy doesn’t seem to mind.   
  
——   
  
They text often throughout the week.   
  
A lot of it has to do with  _ Once Upon a Time,  _ of course, and Credence finds Percy’s running commentary hilarious. But they talk about a lot of other things too and sometimes Percy calls him at night just to say good night.   
  
Credence feels like he wanders through his days with constant butterflies in his stomach and his heart all aflutter but it’s definitely not a bad thing.   
  
Saturday morning breakfast goes even better than dinner had. Mimosas help and there’s a lot of laughter, a lot of bonding over shitty childhoods, their hatred of country music and love of eighties rock.   
  
Percy kisses Credence’s cheek when he drops him off at home that day.   
  
If they don’t do dinner on Fridays, they do breakfast or lunch on Saturdays, and occasionally they see each other both days. Percy makes it a habit of calling Credence every evening and sometimes during the day, when Credence is at lunch, and just talking to him is enough to break up the stress of the week.   
  
To continue his days with a smile. The lack of money is a constant stressor for Credence but he doesn’t feel so alone anymore. Percy never offers to give him any, thank god, but he does send cupcakes on Friday evenings and it makes Credence feel wildly guilty but also like he actually means something to someone.   
  
Percy starts kissing him good night, long, lingering kisses, but he doesn’t ask to come up for a few more weeks.   
  
Credence makes his case at Starbucks for a raise in early May and actually gets it. An entire two dollar raise, even, which means enough money for Chinese food and pizza and his own Netflix account. He tells Percy this, but Percy only says to keep using his, since they’re both working through the same show at the same pace so they can talk all about the episodes they watch.   
  
It helps to have the raise because once he’s done with school for the year, he starts working full time and is able to put away savings again, for when school inevitably starts up and he won’t even have time for a job anymore during the week. His boss tells him he can work the weekends, but Credence doesn’t think he could mentally handle it to work clinicals every day and full days at Starbucks on the weekend.   
  
He’ll probably have to pull more student loans but he tries not to think about that for now.   
  
Percy has come into his apartment a couple times and they don’t do much but lay in his bed and watch their show on his laptop and occasionally make out. His roommates are home in the evening and most Saturdays anyway and Credence is glad for it, because everything makes them move slowly.   
  
Of course by the end of June, Credence is wishing things might speed up a little. He doesn’t tell Percy this, he’s too terrified for that, but he thinks that Percy must read his mind - he’s fairly sure he can, the way he’s always able to read Credence - because he invites him to dinner near his place so Credence can spend an evening in his apartment with him after.   
  
Percy doesn’t take him to ritzy places, nowhere he has to wear anything more than a pair of jeans, even if he’s seen Percy in plenty of suits by now from his own job. Credence fears that Uptown near the Hudson might mean an expensive restaurant or two, but Percy keeps taking him to places he enjoys.   
  
Credence knows full well Percy is a food snob who likes to dine on new daily chef menus that consist of eight courses and cost a couple hundred dollars, but he never puts Credence through it.   
  
They have dinner that Friday night at an Italian place known for their deep dish pizza and it’s a romantic atmosphere, even while they eat heavy pizza and drink heavy beer.   
  
They’ve gotten to know each better, much better, but there are still a lot of things left unsaid. Credence doesn’t know when or if he’ll ever be comfortable delving into his past, but he knows Percy’s was just as rocky in different ways. Percy has worked through it more than Credence has but he never pushes him to talk about it. Yet another thing he likes about him.   
  
Over beer and deep dish pizza, nearing four months since they met, Credence thinks he might just love Percy.   
  
It’s terrifying.   
  
He’s never been in love before but he feels it every day. Feels it whenever he’s thinking about Percy, whenever he sees him, whenever he hangs out with his new friends that Percy had introduced him to.   
  
Two sisters he gets along with in a way he never thought he’d get along with anyone.   
  
Percy is turning his life upside down in many ways and none of them are bad. They’re everything Credence could ever want but still, the idea of loving someone scares him to death, and he still worries, often, that he’s going to fuck this up.   
  
There’s no fitting dessert tonight and they leave the restaurant late, at nine, and Credence is rather desperately hoping that Percy doesn’t rescind the offer to spend time at his apartment.   
  
But he doesn’t. He does the opposite instead and tells Credence he can spend the night and that doesn’t mean anything more than sleeping, if Credence doesn’t want it to.   
  
The idea of sleeping next to Percy is wonderful but it’s been almost four damn months of nothing but kissing and Credence wants more. He wants to know that Percy wants more too.   
  
Percy’s apartment building really is right on the Hudson, the pier the only thing between it and the building. Credence doesn’t quite comprehend the luxury it is until they walk into the lobby though, which is fancier than any hotel lobby he’s ever ventured into.   
  
It’s a little bit of a shock and he thinks the apartments probably aren’t quite as nice as the lobby. He’s browsed websites just for kicks to look at how rich people live and the apartments never seem to be as nice as the lobbies.   
  
He’s entirely wrong, of course, when Percy leads him inside, high up in the building.   
  
Credence is fully aware of what a large apartment like this goes for and he thinks that not only is Percy’s administrative job probably more than he was thinking, but so is his father’s company.   
  
It’s all hardwood floors and fine architecture, curves and sharp edges, wainscotting and crown moulding, the kitchen large for a New York City apartment, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. The furniture is nice, more homey and comfortable than bold statements, but the sofa alone probably cost more than four of Credence’s paychecks.   
  
The living room really is all windows, a glorious view of the Hudson, and he can imagine it during the daytime, filtering in natural white and golden light, and how good it would be to work on art in front of them.   
  
It’s a two bedroom apartment with a den that Percy has made into an office and Credence thinks there’s enough room to be a house. Percy looks a little nervous when he gives Credence a tour and they avoid the bedroom for now, and while Credence is instantly in love with it, he thinks Percy might have some explaining to do.   
  
“You didn’t tell me your apartment had a den,” is what Credence says, lightly, and smiles when Percy grimaces, because he knows what he means.   
  
“Didn’t want the den to scare you off,” Percy says and smiles when he moves closer. He puts his hands on Credence’s hips and squeezes them. “I hope it doesn’t.”   
  
“No,” Credence says with a smile. He looks around the living room and the dining room off in the corner behind a half wall, another room filled with windows. “It doesn’t scare me off. I’ve come to realize you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth.” He grins when Percy purses his lips in vague disapproval. “So which is it? Your administrative job or your father’s company?”   
  
“My company now,” Percy says tersely. “I did spend ten years fixing it, you know. Mostly that one, paycheck has more zeroes every year. I do have a nice salary from NYU too but sitting on the Board of Directors will do that for you.”   
  
Credence groans. “Oh my  _ god,” _ he says. “Board of Directors? That’s way more than school policy!”   
  
“Not really,” Percy says. “It’s just that I help to write school policy for every school NYU has and oversee admissions and various other aspects of the university.”   
  
“Percy,” Credence says and punches his shoulder. “What the hell were you doing browsing the community board app?”   
  
“Are you kidding me? Do you not see what’s posted on there? Endless amusement for me. I also get to see students planning to use things we’ve come up with and get some joy out of the perks we offer while they’re suffering classes otherwise. I do like to keep morale up.”   
  
“You’re a damn liar,” Credence mutters but Percy only smirks at him, because he knows Credence isn’t mad.  _ “Downplaying _ how much money you make isn’t the way people usually do it.”   
  
“We met because you couldn’t afford fourteen bucks a month,” Percy says. “If I told you I make a lot of money, you would have thought I was trying to buy your presence in my life.”   
  
Credence wrinkles his nose. “You don’t know that,” he says, though he thinks it’s almost definitely true. “You might be right. Thank you for not offering to pay for everything, I don’t think my pride could’ve handled it.”   
  
“Oh, I know,” Percy says with some amusement. “I’m not forgetting my mistake in offering you my Amazon password anytime soon.”   
  
Credence blushes and laughs, slumping against Percy so he can press his forehead to his shoulder. “It made me feel so guilty,” he mutters. “I’m still sorry I got mad at you for that.”   
  
Percy chuckles and rubs Credence’s back, kissing his temple. “I’m sure if I wasn’t born into money, I wouldn’t appreciate handouts either,” he says. “Though I only wanted you to watch  _ Hannibal _ because I like that one. Didn’t expect you to go for the jugular.”   
  
“Shut up,” Credence whines. “I already feel bad enough about it.” He looks at Percy with a sigh and leans in to kiss him. “Can we go lay down and watch some Netflix for the rest of the night?”   
  
“Sure,” Percy says with a smile. “Go get comfortable, I’ll get us some drinks.”   
  
“Nothing too heavy,” Credence says with a grin. “I’m still recovering from those beers.”   
  
“Double of whiskey it is.”   
  
“Ugh,” Credence says as he walks back across the apartment and to Percy’s bedroom. He pushes the door open and sighs as he looks around.   
  
It’s beautiful, of course, with a truly massive bed that doesn’t even make the room look smaller. Percy’s sheets are dark, his comforter even darker, and it’s been made pristinely. He darkly wonders if Percy has a maid or if he does it himself. He looks at the huge television on the wall and thinks about all the time they’ve spent on the phone, talking or texting, and this was where Percy was for some of it.   
  
He walks into the bathroom and shakes his head.   
  
Grey tile floors that extend up the wall of the very large shower with three glass walls, an entirely separate, tall bathtub, a long counter with two sinks, and classy but subtle lighting.   
  
Probably the best bathroom he’s ever been in and he’s going to have to convince Percy to let him use the bathtub at some point, because not only will he fit comfortably in it, but he so rarely experiences a bath in his life.   
  
There’s a walk-in closet on the other end of the bathroom and Percy is absolutely a dandy, he already knew that, but it makes him laugh to see all of his clothes. By the time he’s walking back into the bedroom, Percy’s inside, with a whiskey for himself and a strawberry  _ Mike’s _ for Credence.   
  
Credence has a soft spot for  _ Mike’s _ and his heart feels warm to know Percy had gotten some ahead of time for him. It’s more thoughtfulness, the kind Percy possesses that always surprises Credence, and he thinks he may fall just a little more in love with him.   
  
“Do you make your bed every morning?” Credence asks with a smile as he watches Percy unbutton his shirt.   
  
“I do,” Percy says. “If I don’t, I think about it all morning when I’m at work.”   
  
Credence huffs a laugh. “I probably won’t ever pick up that habit,” he says. “It was comfortable when I got out, why wouldn’t it feel the same when I got in? You even have decorative pillows.”   
  
“I love my decorative pillows,” Percy says as he grabs them off of the bed. There’s an armchair in the corner of the room and he piles the pillows on it just so. “I have a system.”   
  
Credence laughs more and shakes his head. “How do you survive when you spend time in my bedroom?”   
  
Percy shrugs and he’s only in a tank top now, utterly distracting, but so is Percy’s smile. “You’re there,” he says. “Easy to ignore the numerous piles of clothes on the ground when I’ve got you in my arms.”   
  
“I could probably afford a hamper now,” Credence says with a grin. He pulls his own shirt off, as well as his pants, and gets into bed on the side Percy had left the  _ Mike’s  _ on.   
  
It is wonderfully soft and comfortable and Credence watches Percy get out of his own pants and get into bed next to him. He pulls Credence closer and kisses him, gentle and sweet.   
  
There’s no rush, not tonight, and they do get Netflix turned on. They’ve finished  _ Once Upon a Time  _ and are working through  _ Grey’s Anatomy, _ which tends to piss them off more often than not, but they haven’t given up on it yet.   
  
Percy drinks his whiskey and Credence sips the hard strawberry lemonade, their free hands tangled together, and Credence thinks he’s never felt so good in all his life.   
  
Once the episode has ended, Credence feels a little daring and moves his hand to Percy’s thigh, rubbing it and plucking at the hem of his boxer shorts. Percy doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest, taking Credence in his arms and kissing him.   
  
It’s passionate and searing hot, finally, and there’s something immensely more pleasing about it here, where they have complete privacy. He has a feeling no one could hear them in any other apartments either and it’s freeing to be able to moan when Percy’s tongue moves over his and he doesn’t have to worry about who he might upset.   
  
Percy takes care of Credence, as he always does, spending time on him in a way no one else has. He kisses Credence everywhere, finding the places that make him gasp and shiver and keen. Praise boils out of him, enough to embarrass Credence, but Percy sounds like he means every word and it’s flattering while also making him want to cry.   
  
That’s probably the alcohol. At least that’s what Credence tells himself.   
  
Percy’s mouth is hot and wet around Credence but he doesn’t want it to end there. Credence asks Percy to get undressed and make love to him and Percy gives that to him as easily as he gives everything to Credence.   
  
It’s a slow and gentle beginning, Percy’s touch soft and unhurried, kissing Credence and taking his moans, his sighs of pleasure, and tells him how beautiful he is.   
  
When he’s in Credence later, Credence marvels over the fact that there’s no pain, as unpracticed in this as he is. The few times he’s done it were painful in some way, not with the right people, but he looks into Percy’s eyes and knows he’s found the right person.   
  
Percy kisses Credence and holds him tight as he rocks into him, never moving away, and it’s slow but firm, meant to last, and Credence hopes it does. He hopes everything lasts and as he clutches at Percy’s back and looks up at him, he sees that Percy wants the same thing.   
  
It’s so tender, almost unbearably so, and Credence runs his fingers through Percy’s hair and drags his blunt nails across his back, things he is learning Percy likes, and he hopes that lasts too. That he’ll keep finding out what Percy likes so he can give him it, for as long as Percy lets him.   
  
Their climaxes are gentle waves rather than harsh crashes and Credence thinks it makes it better, even if he’s sure the other kind will find them. They merely breathe each other’s air, foreheads pressed together, and stay like that for a while, sharing languid kisses and easy praise.   
  
Credence doesn’t want to let Percy go but he does have to clean up and he’s not gone for long. He’s back in Credence’s arms soon and they turn off the television and lights and hold each other.   
  
Percy kisses along Credence’s shoulder, his hand warm as it slides up and down Credence’s back, and he doesn’t ask about the scars, not yet.   
  
“Percy,” Credence whispers and there’s enough moonlight in the bedroom to see that Percy is looking at him but Credence squeezes his eyes shut. “I love you.”   
  
Percy’s hand continues rubbing Credence’s back until he moves it under Credence’s jaw and tilts his chin up until Credence looks at him. He’s smiling, soft but infinitely warm, and he kisses Credence, just once.   
  
“I love you too, sweetheart,” he says and when Credence grins, unable to help it, Percy kisses him then too.   
  
They say good night not long after but for Credence it’s hard to fall asleep and for once, not because of any stress. He’s thinking about love and what that means for him. Love and what it’s like with a genuine person who wants the best for him and asks for nothing more than to be treated well, words that don’t need to be spoken between them.   
  
Credence listens to Percy’s steady and even breathing for a while and feels his heartbeat, strong and sure, under his palm, and thinks that no matter how tough life was at the beginning, he’s done a lot to turn it around.   
  
He didn’t expect Percy to walk into his life and offer him so much more than he was already making for himself, but here he is, and Credence hopes that Percy always will be.   
  
——   
  
Credence begins to spend more time at Percy’s apartment. He stays almost every Friday night, still working at five in the morning during the week, but it’s amazing what it does for him. What it does for them.   
  
Summer steadily passes by, hot and getting more humid by the day, and eventually Percy asks if Credence wants to go to Spain. He refuses Spain, but he takes the offer of Huntington Beach in California in its place.   
  
Percy doesn’t seem to mind either way.   
  
It’s a week spent on the beach and walking the boardwalk and eating a lot of seafood and drinking a lot of cocktails. It’s not Spain but it’s also far different from New York, something he thinks he’s been needing his entire life but has never been able to do before.   
  
They make love every night in a fancy hotel because Percy wouldn’t let Credence get away with anything less than that, but it’s alright because they both have plenty of room in the shower to wash sand off and enjoy each other otherwise.   
  
Credence feels refreshed when they get back home and though he has to dive back into work, he is finally starting to feel like there’s not a huge ball of stress bending his spine. His savings account is larger than it’s been in a long while and he’s nervous about what he’s going to do once clinicals start, but he thinks he probably knew the answer before it comes.   
  
A week before school is set to begin, Percy tells Credence he can move in with him. He doesn’t have to worry about getting to Starbucks at five anymore because clinicals will be starting at seven soon and Percy tells him he gets into work around that time anyway, so they can go in together.   
  
Credence is close to thinking of it as charity but they’ve been dating for over six months now and he supposes this is simply what people do. Move in together, share everything together, and they’re happy for it.   
  
He gladly moves out of his apartment and doesn’t have much to take with him, only a few boxes worth of things, but once Percy has helped him unpack his clothes, which have somewhere to go now, smaller things like Credence’s laptop and a few knickknacks and his many blankets are around the apartment. It makes it a little more homey, Credence thinks, something to combat Percy’s insistence on making the bed and not letting clothes pile up on the floor.   
  
It’s home now and Credence settles into that much faster than he thought he would.   
  
Clinicals are absolute hell for the first two months.   
  
Not only are they messy but it is absolutely terrifying to be responsible for another human being’s care, even if he has nurses and charge nurses to look after him. He’s tempted to drop out a few times but Percy always convinces him to stay in that easy way of his that soothes Credence’s worries with only a few words and a gentle touch.   
  
He often thinks of Percy when he works, of his easy way, and it helps him get through his days better. It helps him become more confident, it helps him become the first to volunteer trying something new, to stand out among his classmates.   
  
Everyone praises him for his kindness, for his genuine and caring nature, and Credence thinks about how he fought tooth and nail in the beginning of his life to be able to say he was those things, because he refused to be what life was trying to make him.   
  
Percy has a regular schedule like Credence and says he didn’t before he came to work at NYU and is surprised he hadn’t died of the stress himself. He learned to breathe and he’s helping Credence learn to breathe too.   
  
Credence has a break during the holidays and though they both don’t enjoy the holidays as a whole, they realize that they can enjoy them together. That they can experience what everyone else does, gifts and presents and that holiday cheer, just the two of them, and Credence knows he’s never been more happy in all his life.   
  
He took a leap of faith applying to NYU and he took a leap of faith accepting a stranger’s invitation to dinner and life has rewarded him for it.   
  
Once the New Year has passed and Credence has less than a week before he starts clinicals back up, he sits in the corner of the living room where the light is the brightest from five huge windows and sketches on an easel Percy had gotten him. He’s going to make it a charcoal drawing and there’s something about this, something about this day, sitting in the bright winter light with a cup of hot coffee next to him, in this beautiful apartment with his boyfriend, that stands out to him.   
  
Credence stops sketching and looks around the easel at Percy. He’s sitting on the sofa, his back to Credence, browsing his iPad and reading the  _ New York Times. _ His usual routine after breakfast and Credence watches him, biting his lip, and realizes he wants this for the rest of his life.   
  
Exactly this.   
  
Comfort and warmth and love. A place he might be able to look over his drawing and see Percy going about his day, even if it’s muttering angrily about whatever article he’s reading.   
  
He wants to grow old with Percy and maybe it’s too soon to think that, just eleven months into knowing each other, but Percy has given him love, has introduced him to good people, his circle, has given Credence a home and he never asks for anything in return.   
  
Just Credence’s company and counts himself lucky he has Credence’s love, he’s told Credence before.   
  
Credence stands up and walks behind the sofa. He touches Percy’s shoulders and leans down, wrapping his arms around him and kissing his cheek.   
  
Percy hums his approval and points at his iPad. “Do you see this bullshit?” he asks as he reaches up and holds onto Credence’s wrists.    
  
Credence puts his finger under Percy’s jaw until he looks at him and Percy’s attention is on him, before he can really get going about the failings of the government, and kisses him.   
  
Percy kisses him back, sweetly so, and when Credence pulls back a moment later, he’s smiling. “And what was that for?”   
  
“I love you and I’m happy,” Credence says with a smile and if he’s a little teary, well, Credence can only blame Percy.   
  
“Something I’ll never get tired of hearing,” Percy says and rubs Credence’s arm, tossing his iPad aside on the sofa. “I love you too. Why don’t you come around here and join me?”   
  
Credence grins and kisses Percy’s forehead before he walks around the sofa and sits next to Percy. Percy kisses him again, cradling his cheeks, his thumb brushing gently under Credence’s eye. He knows Credence cries as much when he’s happy as when he’s upset and which is which by now, something Credence is always embarrassed by either way, but not today.   
  
Today Credence lets Percy wipe away his tears and kisses him and he doesn’t really know how to tell Percy why he’s happy, but he tries anyway.   
  
“You know, I was pretty tipsy when I made that post on the community board,” he says when they’ve finally stopped kissing.   
  
“Color me shocked.”   
  
Credence laughs. “I’m sure you could hear it, yes, thanks,” he says and smiles. “But I’m really happy you made me give you my number. I never thought… I don’t know, for a few years there I wasn’t sure I’d make it to my twentieth birthday.” He holds Percy’s hand, looking down at it.   
  
Hands he’s sketched a countless number of times.   
  
“And in six months I’ll be a registered nurse working in a hospital and I’ll have you to come home to every night,” Credence continues and bites his lip. “I never thought I’d have that. Someone like you.” He looks at Percy and sniffs, smiling when he sees Percy’s smile, a soft and affectionate thing. “I want to be with you until we’re old men. Maybe I’ll be as grumpy as you are by then.”   
  
Percy chuckles. “My grumpiness will have increased tenfold by the time I’m an old man, so I doubt it,” he says. He smiles and kisses Credence, a brush of his lips over Credence’s own. “I never thought I’d have someone like you either, Credence. I was giving up on that idea when I saw your post. You have made my life much more enjoyable and you’ve given me happiness I haven’t experienced before. I’m glad you brought up growing old together, actually,” he adds and grabs his iPad.   
  
“Oh no,” Credence laughs, but he’s grinning and wipes at his eyes as he watches Percy turn his iPad back on and flip through his numerous browser tabs, all open to some different newspaper or journal.   
  
After a few annoyed mutters about their various articles, Percy finds what he’s looking for and opens it. Credence looks at a listing of various venues around the east coast to  _ host any type of event, but weddings are our most popular!  _ one of the listings says.   
  
“Definitely not that one,” Credence says. “It says maximum occupancy is fifty. What about the thousand clients and corporate connections you have?”   
  
“Witnessing one of the happiest moments of our lives? I think fucking not,” Percy says and wraps his arm around Credence, pulling him close. “Fifty already sounds way too big.”   
  
Credence smiles and rests his head on Percy’s shoulder. “You’re right, it does,” he says. “Definitely not that one either. I’m not getting married in New Jersey.”   
  
“You’re right, that’d be terrible. Out,” Percy says as he scrolls by it. “Look, this one is on a ranch. Optional cattle dog ring boy.”   
  
“Hmm. You know, I kind of like that idea.”   
  
“Early morning horseback ride to watch the sunrise on top of the mountain and have breakfast there. Wedding party or newly married couple only.”   
  
“I don’t know if I can picture either of us on a horse.”   
  
“We’ll probably both fall off, but that’s just part of the experience.”   
  
Credence grins and rubs Percy’s thigh and thinks that life really can’t get much better than this.

**Author's Note:**

> Just fluff. Needed it after some bad health days and after my last fic. I have a 46k fic finished as of today as well, probably gonna post it tomorrow so be on the lookout for another one!
> 
> Idea comes from [Erin](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/angelsallfire)!! I asked her if there was anything she wanted to see with this ship and she gave me the gift of the pure fluff I was looking to write!! Thank you, Erin, ilu!
> 
> Thank you, Mom! <3
> 
> [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/vtforpedro)


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